Into The Dark We Go
by Madiison
Summary: Written for a friend. Eventual Joel x OC. Anna was doing her job at the power plant, when two new faces show up, and she gets caught in their adventures. I don't own The Last Of Us, I only own Anna. "She had gotten into a lot of trouble in her life, but nothing as bad as this."


**A/N:**  
**This is a story that's written for my friend. I may update this and I may not, depending on how updating my other story goes, and if this is liked. This has quite a bit of pieces from the later storyline, but dialouge isn't copied on purpose.**  
**This isn't the best, and I know that. This chapter was written in one sitting at like, three-thirty in the morning.**  
**Joel and Ellie will be incorporated into this soon enough c: **  
**I hope she likes it, she knows who she is~ **  
**The beginning few chapters are slow, seeing as they revolve around my OCs.**  
**~I don't own The Last Of Us or the characters, I only own Anna and Alex.~**  
**Enjoy! 3**  
_

The older woman let out a sigh as she stood upright, wiping her dirty hands on her pants. She stared down at the covered up trap that she had just finished tinkering with. It was a simple trap, a bear trap that she had carefully covered with leaves. It would catch her something, even if it was small. She clapped her hands together and coughed into them, looking around.

She was in a quite dense forest, as she had been for the past week or two. A group of hunters had chased her in, and they were most likely waiting for when she came out. She didn't know how long they were going to persue her, but she hoped that they'd give up soon.

The woman had quite the bad reputation, and she herself wasn't sure how she had earned it. She had switched sides a lot, from hunter to survivor to soldier, and back to survivor again. Every time she finally got comfortable with something, something bad happened, and she was forced to switch. But that was usual nowadays, when everything was hell.

For a fourty-nine year old woman, she only looked like she was about thirty. Her dirty brown hair was up in a bun, and her blue eyes held nothing but fatigue in them. Her jacket was ripped and her jeans were covered in blood and mud. She never really got a chance to slow down and change, especially since she was trying to protect herself, along with someone else.

She stared at the trap for another moment or two before she let out another sigh and turned on her heels, walking back the way she had came. It wasn't that short of a walk until she arrived in a small clearing, the surrounding trees blocking out some of the sunlight. There, on a log, sat a young girl, drawing circles in the dirt with a stick. She looked up and towards the older woman as she made her way over and sat down next to her.

"Did you set up the trap, Anna?" The girl asked. Anna nodded and wiped her forehead with her sleeve.

"Yep. Did you see anyone?" She responded. The girl shook her head and looked back down at the ground and her stick.

"No. It's been really quiet. That's good, I think." She replied. Anna nodded and let out a sigh. She watched the girl as she drew more circles. She looked extremely bored, yet at the same time she looked a bit scared.

"How are you holding up, Alex?" Anna asked after a minute or two. Alex let out a small sigh and shrugged, putting the stick down on the ground as she swiped her foot back and forth on the circles, spreading the dirt.

"I'm holding up just fine." She mumbled. "Don't worry about me."

Anna nodded and ruffled Alex's hair. "I'm your mother. I'm allowed to worry about you all I want." She said, causing the girl to groan and swat at her hand.

"Okay, whatever." She muttered, looking off to the side. Anna frowned and put her hand in her pocket. Her daughter had been quiet ever since her father had died in a fight with a group of hunters. Anna, at his request, had ran with Alex, leaving him to fend for himself. It was like Alex was mad at her or something, but if they hadn't have ran they would all be dead.

"I'll go back and check on the trap in a few hours," Anna said, stretching as she moved down and sat up against the log, "you're free to do whatever as long as you don't go too far. Wake me up if anything happens, alright?"

"Got it." Alex said, zipping up her jacket. She stared down at her Anna as she closed her eyes, playing with the wedding ring that was on her finger. Alex didn't know why she still had that thing on. Her husband, Lucas, was dead. And besides, keeping a ring on your finger didn't help you much anyway in any situations that you may encounter.

Alex was a ten-year-old girl who had been born into this nightmarish world on accident. She had the same brown hair as he mother and blank green eyes that rarely held any other expression other than anger or confusion. Her mother and father really hadn't planned for a child at all, and Anna herself had admitted that when they found out, they were scared. They didn't want her to go through what they had to, but Alex had quickly learned to tough it out.

Sometimes she wondered why she was still alive in the first place. She had heard that this world was never going back to the way it used to be, which sounded like a great place where no one tried to kill you every five seconds. She had heard that children were pretty much useless in this new hellish world, and they'd be the firsts to die off seeing as they weren't as 'smart' as adults. Alex was only alive because she listened to her mother, as much as she didn't want to. She knew she and her mother wouldn't live that long, anyway.

Alex let out a quiet sigh as she stood up, kicking the toe of her boot twice onto the ground, making a small mark in the dirt. She glanced down at her now asleep mother, and saw the tiredness all over her face. She worked non-stop to make sure that the both of them were healthy and safe, whether it meant working herself to the point of exhaustion and back. They were both alive and weren't planning on dying anytime soon, but Anna had mentioned a thing called 'luck' a while back, and Alex knew that it would run out sooner or later, and one of them was going to end up alone.

Alone. The ten-year-old hated that word so much. She was scared of ending up alone, having no one to care for her, having no one to tell her that it would be okay when she woke up from a nightmare. That's why she made sure to take care of her mother as much as a child could. And today, she'd just let her sleep in. Alex decided that she would check the trap, to let her mother sleep an extra few hours. The child stretched and pulled down the bottom of her jacket, her eyes scanning over the environment. After a moment, she could see the dirty path that her mother had made with her machete. She had cut through all of the dense greenery, though it took her about three hours to get at least a mile in.

The girl glanced back at her mother, then slowly and carefully unzipped her jacket, trying not to wake her up. She grabbed the machete that her mother always had that was kept in a loop inside of the jacket. Anna had said that it was so no one would see that she had a weapon, and she said that she definitely knew how to use a machete. In fact, she used it more than any gun. It was a more effective weapon for her, and it was close to breaking. Alex held her breath as her mother stirred, but luckily, didn't wake up. She let out a quiet sigh of relief and quickly zipped up her jacket once the machete was out of the loop, turning towards the path.

Alex put the blunt edge of the machete on her shoulders as she pushed past the remaining branches, starting her walk down the path. She'd just sit a few feet away from the trap and wait, wait for something to happen. The branches that were connected to the tall trees around her blocked out most of the sunlight, little rays managing to find their way through small cracks. It was still dark, yet pretty, seeing as the rays lit up certain parts of the path. All of the plants looked so lively, so alive. And if plants could be happy, they definitely would be.  
She let out a happy sigh at the sound of nature. It sounded so free, so careless. She was so caught up in the nature that she nearly walked right onto the trap.

"Why would mom put the trap this close to our little clearing?" Alex muttered, staring down at the leaves. She could see the sharp edges sticking out from underneath, and she sighed. At least animals weren't so smart that they could tell that there was a trap there. She looked to her right and saw a mossy tree, that had branches that Alex noted to be climbable. It would be best if she was up high, where she wouldn't disturb any animals . . . she sighed to herself and held the machete tightly as she grabbed onto the lowest branch, pulling herself up and doing the same to the next branch. She stopped when she was a good few feet off of the ground, and she had a good view of the area. It looked beautiful, the light illuminating the flowers and bushes, while there was an eerie darkness to the grass and trees surrounding them. Alex put her legs up on the branch and sat up against the trunk, staring down at the ground. It was then that she realized that it was going to be one excruciatingly long wait.

_

Alex's green eyes snapped open at the sound of footsteps. She rubbed them with her hands; when had she fallen asleep? She sure didn't remember it. Looking down at the ground, she could see at least three runners stumbling their way over, causing the girl to scoff. How did those stupid things manage to find their way here, of all places? She quietly swung her legs over the branch and watched as they continued stumbling around, making their stupid moaning sounds as they always did. Alex glanced down at her machete. She could try and take them out quietly, but that'd be a difficult task. She slowly and carefully made her way back down the tree, wincing at the quiet thud that she made when she landed. Standing up behind the tree, she waited to see if she could get at least one of them to come over here so she could take it out. She was surprised that they all didn't jump her when she got down from the last branch, the thud should have at least gotten their attention.

She held her breath as one of the infected turned around and began stumbling towards the tree. It nearly tripped over a branch, and Alex had to hold back a snicker. They were stupid, it was hilarious. Though the fact that they posed a serious threat either way made her slightly nervous. It had barely made its way past the tree when Alex crept out and brought the machete down onto the side of its neck, causing it to let out a loud squeal-like noise of pain as it fell to the ground. She glanced over to see that that had definitely caught the other two runner's attentions, and one of them turned over that way to come investigate. Alex held back a small whimper as she made her way around the other side of the tree, avoiding the other infected as much as possible. When it had its back turned to her, she quickly snuck past it and made for the other infected. That one was idle, and it would be easier, at least, she thought. Its head was tilted in such a way that getting the weapon into the side of its neck wouldn't be easy, so the only option she saw was to jump on its back. She held her breath as she stood up and jumped onto its back, wrapping one of her arms around its neck as she attempted to bring down the machete.

The infected let out a loud yell and started flailing its arms, causing Alex to hit its shoulder instead. It let out another yell and sunk its teeth into her arm, causing her to let out her own squeal of pain. The other infected immediately began running over, and Alex brought her machete down on the infected's head as fast as she could. She jumped off of its now lifeless body and screamed as she remaining runner grabbed her and tried to bite into her neck. She quickly pushed it back and stumbled backwards, stepping directly onto the trap.

She could barely react before it snapped and cut almost all the way through her leg and the bone, causing her to scream. The infected screeched and ran over to her, bending down and grabbing her shoulders in another attempt to bite her neck. Alex, in her pain and terror, shoved the machete through its chest on impulse, sliding it down until the machete ended up in its stomach. The runner let out one last squeal before it fell down to the side, taking the machete with it.

Alex didn't celebrate her horrible victory. She was too busy staring down at her arm, then back to her leg. The horrible pain in both limbs made hot tears come pouring out of her eyes. Her leg was a mess. She couldn't believe that she had managed to step on her mother's trap. Nor could she believe that she was infected. Infected with that deadly virus that killed you no matter what you did. She let out another scream, half in pain and half in terror. It echoed through the forest, causing birds in the distance to fly away into the sky.

_

Anna jolted awake at the sound of a scream. It sounded close, and it was shaky. And it sounded exactly like Alex's. The older woman reached into her jacket to see that her machete wasn't there. She cursed under her breath and stood up, seeing small footprints in the dirt. They lead to the path that Anna had created earlier.

"Alex . . . what did you get yourself into?" She muttered, running where the footprints led.

She stopped when she saw her daughter sitting down on the ground, her leg caught in the trap she had set up earlier. And her arm . . . oh god, her arm.

"Alex." Anna called, nearly sliding down onto the ground next to her. Alex looked at her mother through teary eyes, giving little hiccups of terror. Anna looked around and saw the three dead runner bodies. The girl must have killed them all off herself, managing to get herself injured in the process. The woman would have been okay with the injuries, getting her leg out of the trap, carrying her, wrapping it up . . . but the bite on her arm made her extremely nervous and scared. That was her worst nightmare.

"Mommy?" Alex asked. She looked like she was about to have a panic attack.

"Shh, baby girl, I'm here." Anna said, looking down at the trap. She took in a deep breath, then grabbed the sides of it. "I'm gonna get your leg out, and I need you to stay as quiet as possible." She said. Before Alex could do anything, Anna began prying the trap open, causing the ten-year-old to let out blood curdling screams. The older woman kept pulling, despite her daughter's pleas to stop. After a minute or two, she managed to yank it out, immediately picking up her daughter in her arms.

"Alex. Alex, calm down." Anna whispered, unable to bear the sound of her daughter screaming and crying. Alex tried her hardest, but she was still hiccuping and sobbing. Anna held the hysterical girl close to her chest, turning around and running the way she came. There were probably more runners coming, or even worse, those hunters. They'd both be dead in an instant.

Quickly setting Alex down on the log, she looked at the bite wound as she grabbed her arm. It was pretty much over for the girl. She was infected, and she would be one of those things in two days. Anna had to keep herself from crying.

"I'm not gonna turn, am I?" Alex asked, searching her mother's face for any kind of hope at all. But there was no hope to be found. "...mommy?"

"...I'm sorry baby." Anna whispered, tracing her finger along the bite, causing Alex to wince. "I can't help you with this one."

"What do you mean?! You help me with every injury!"

"Yes, I know, but I don't have the ability to stop the infection . . ."

"You can do it!" Alex shouted, but Anna just shook her head. The ten-year-old knew how bad the virus was. She didn't want to change. She was scared of hurting her mother. She was scared of hurting other people. In all honesty, she was scared of dying. She didn't want to go so soon.

"I'm sorry, baby girl." Anna whispered. She didn't want to watch Alex turn, nor did she want to kill her. She didn't want anything to happen to her. She wanted her to be safe, but she failed with that.

Alex was about to say something, but stopped when she heard the familiar squeal of runners. Anna froze and looked off to the side, seeing a group of at least four runners making their way over. Sure, they weren't exactly close, but they would be in a matter of minutes. She looked down at her daughter, who was looking off to the side with a terrified look on her face.

"What do we do? They're coming right for us!" Alex half-shouted. Anna shook her head and stood up, taking a few steps back.

"I'm sorry." Was all she said before she turned on her heels and started running.

"Mommy?!" Alex squealed, holding her arm out in an attempt to grab her. Anna slowed down for a second, wiped her eyes, then continued to run as fast as her legs could carry her. In the backround, she could hear her daughters pleas for her to come back, followed by her agonized screams as the runners got to her. Anna didn't dare look back as she got farther and farther away from that clearing. The runners were occupied, but that didn't make her feel any better. And it never would.


End file.
